Over 2/3 of tax cap overrides fail

It looks like the state’s property tax cap is having an impact on school budget votes.

While 95.5 percent of budgets passed, there was great disparity between districts that stayed within the two-percent* cap on property taxes and those that choose to go beyond it. Breaking the cap requires the support of 60 percent of a district’s voters to pass. (* – The cap calculation is actually quiet complex, as I explained here.)

This year, 27 districts attempted a tax cap override, according to a first blush analysis released this morning by the New York State School Boards Association. Just 30 percent of those budgets passed, while 98.3 percent of districts that stayed within the cap approved their budgets. This trend also played out in the Capital Region, as my colleague Scott Waldman reported. Two districts — South Colonie and Niskayuna — attempted cap overrides. Niskayuna failed, South Colonie succeeded. Only one other district — Middleburgh — rejected its budget.